Isaiah 23: 6-10

⁶ Pass over to Tarshish;
Wail, O inhabitants of the coastland.
⁷ Is this your jubilant city,
Whose origin is from antiquity,
Whose feet used to carry her to colonize distant places?

⁸ Who has planned this against Tyre, the bestower of crowns,
Whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth?
⁹ The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,
To despise all the honored of the earth.
¹⁰ Overflow your land like the Nile, O daughter of Tarshish,
There is no more restraint.

The "jubilant" city of Tyre! (vs. 7) The "market of nations," as Isaiah called the city in the beginning of Chapter 23. The undeniable prince of trade is "destroyed," (vs. 1) and the world mourns. In today's passage, more about why the city is facing extinction instead of further distinction.

"Pass over to Tarshish [to seek safety as exiles]!"

--Amplified Bible, vs. 6

Last week, we read of how Tyre's major trade cities responded to the news of this business venture capital coming to ruin. Tarshish, Cypress, Sidon, Egypt--all expressed their shock and "anguish" (vs. 5) over the loss of this incredible business mecca. Tyre's beginnings were "from antiquity," (vs. 7) my study Bible reporting its existence about two millennia before Christ. Despite its longevity and its colossal success, its inhabitants are beckoned to leave and seek shelter in other nations.

"Is this your jubilant city?" Isaiah asks in verse 7. Obviously, something has happened to make Tyre unrecognizable to its natives. The use of 'jubilant' is not unlike the prophet's use of 'exultant' in verse 2 of Chapter 22:

"You who were full of noise,
You boisterous town, you exultant city;
Your slain were not slain with the sword,
Nor did they die in battle."

--Isaiah 22:2 (speaking of Jerusalem)

If you'll remember the reference, Judah had the Assyrians at their gates, ready to take over Jerusalem. City folks were living their regular self-fulfilling lives, busy-bodying themselves, as usual. Tyre was not unlike Jerusalem in this regard. The city's main activity was keeping their harbor hopping. Satisfied traders meant more wealth, activity and happy distractions for all. But, this all comes with a price over which even the savviest traders can't bargain.

"Those that were so disposed might find there all manner of sports and diversions, all the delights of the sons and daughters of men, balls, and plays, and operas, and every thing of that kind that a man had a fancy to. This made them secure and proud, and they despised the country people, who neither knew nor relished any joys of that nature. This also made them very loth to believe and consider what warnings God gave them by his servants; they were too merry to mind them."

--Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible 

"Too merry to mind"--Now, that's a phrase! In today's culture, how easy is it to become too merry over things and circumstances in our lives that we forget (grow tired of, argue around, ignore or replace) what God is saying to us? Our attention is not on what it needs to be. One of the running themes of Isaiah--and, arguably, all of Scripture--is that pride in oneself will be dealt with at the hand of God.

“Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord God,

“Because your heart is lifted up and you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the seas’; 
Yet you are a man and not God,
Although you make your heart like the heart of God....'"

--Ezekiel 28:2 (The prophet has his own words on Tyre. We'll get to them one day :-) .)

God's remedy for pride is humbling--humbling the proud! Tyre did not only have an outstanding reputation, but it flaunted and invested in that reputation. Note the descriptors Isaiah uses in verse 8: "the bestower of crowns," "princes," "honored of the earth." Tyre believed with all its heart that it was worthy of all its titles, because it believed it had engineered all its success. The Master Planner saw it all quite differently.

"God did not bring those calamities upon Tyre in a way of sovereignty, to show an arbitrary and irresistible power; but he did it to punish the Tyrians for their pride. Many other sins, no doubt, reigned among them—idolatry, sensuality, and oppression; but the sin of pride is fastened upon as that which was the particular ground of God’s controversy with Tyre; for he resists the proud. All the world observing and being surprised at the desolation of Tyre, we have here an exposition of it.

--Matthew Henry

"Who has planned this against Tyre?..." (vs. 8) The Lord of hosts! (vs. 9) Who else, right? As we talked about last time, Tyre held a very lucrative position among the many trade-oriented cities around the Mediterranean. Might one have thought about conquering Tyre for the sake of gain? Maybe. But, it would make more sense to capitalize, literally, on what Tyre could offer and, thus, gain greater benefits for the home city. Remember, they were in anguish over this loss, because it would carry over into these other cities' wealth and ventures.

But, God's point had nothing to do with changing the Mediterranean trade scene. His desire then, as always, is to turn people toward Him. Pride in things other than God always leaves something in tatters. 

For Tyre, it was the city itself. Verse 10 says, "There is no more restraint." The notes in my study Bible suggest the more literal translation may be, "There is no girdle or shipyard." The King James Version says, "...There is no more strength." The Amplified Bible makes an even more specific suggestion: "...There is no girdle of restraint [on you] any more [to make you pay tribute or customs or duties to Tyre]." Certainly, they all applied.

The word for strength in Hebrew translates to girdle or belt. [Strong's] Besides the idea of holding up one's clothes, to gird implies something that encircles or provides a boundary. We are strengthened, secured, safely hemmed in. 

"Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth...."

--Ephesians 6: 13-14a (italics mine)

At Tyre's core was a prideful heart which could not see the truth. Tyre's loins were girded in its self-made image and success. God said, "No more!" To gird His truth about Tyre would require drastic steps. But, for the world's trade stage, God had no better platform in which to demonstrate His Word than through this "Shark": "When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom." (Proverbs 11: 2)

"As its beauty shall not intercede for it, but that shall be stained, so its strength shall not protect it, but that shall be broken. If any think it strange that a city so well fortified, and that has so many powerful allies, should be so totally ruined, let them know that it is the Lord of hosts that has given a commandment to destroy the strongholds thereof: and who can gainsay his orders or hinder the execution of them?"

--Matthew Henry 

If there were any doubt destruction was coming, God chose to augment His command with evidence. ....'Til next time!

Photo: www.fanpop.com

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Next time:  Isaiah 23: 11-14
 
Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).

Isaiah 3:16-26

Judah’s Women Denounced

¹⁶ Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud
And walk with heads held high and seductive eyes,
And go along with mincing steps
And tinkle the bangles on their feet,
¹⁷ Therefore the Lord will afflict the scalp of the daughters of Zion with scabs,
And the Lord will make their foreheads bare.”

¹⁸ In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of their anklets, headbands, crescent ornaments, ¹⁹ dangling earrings, bracelets, veils, ²⁰ headdresses, ankle chains, sashes, perfume boxes, amulets, ²¹ finger rings, nose rings, ²² festal robes, outer tunics, cloaks, money purses, ²³ hand mirrors, undergarments, turbans and veils.

²⁴ Now it will come about that instead of sweet perfume there will be putrefaction;
Instead of a belt, a rope;
Instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp;
Instead of fine clothes, a donning of sackcloth;
And branding instead of beauty.
²⁵ Your men will fall by the sword
And your mighty ones in battle.
²⁶ And her gates will lament and mourn,
And deserted she will sit on the ground.

Compared with the last passage we looked at here on these pages, this is a much longer segment of Scripture. But, as I'm sure you've discovered by reading through these verses, this was a passage to be taken in its entirety rather than broken part way. Isaiah's picture of the women of Judah cannot be captured in just one image. I'm thinking you are conjuring up images for yourself! (As you can see, I opted for featuring a closet that might contain such an extensive wardrobe and accompaniments rather than to "hang up" one of today's women of Judah.)


God doesn't mince words, even as He mentions the women's "mincing steps." (vs 16) The detail in the description from Isaiah is fantastic. The outcome for these women, however, is not, dare I say, pretty. Punishment will come in the form of a disease of some type, something to leave their scalps covered in scabs and their foreheads bare. (Though the King James Version reads, "the Lord will discover their secret parts," leading us to believe a far worse fate would be theirs.)


My favorite commentary from Matthew Henry offers up the possibility that these women could be the wives and daughters of the aforementioned "princes" of this chapter, "that they might maintain the pride and luxury of their families." They would certainly be the ones who could afford such a closet. But, the principle of taking dress too seriously could be applied to all women--even today.

Was the problem with having an abundance of these items or having these items at all? Verse 16 focuses on the issues in mentioning 'proud' and 'seductive eyes.' "Vestis virum reddit is one of my take-away sentences from Latin I--"Clothes make the man." Surely, the thought was that clothes make the woman, too, but that was just the beginning. She needed the attitude, the posturing, the "wanton eyes" (in the Hebrew, "to ogle, blink coquettishly," Strong's), the tinkling of her bangles to attract attention and complete the image of who she was.

"The enumeration of these things intimates what care they were in about them, how much their hearts were upon them, what an exact account they kept of them, how nice and critical they were about them, how insatiable their desire was of them, and how much of their comfort was bound up in them.... The prophet did not speak of these things as in themselves sinful (they might lawfully be had and used), but as things which they were proud of and should therefore be deprived of."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Can you even keep track of fashion trends today? Look at the King James Version's take on verse 22: "The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins...." Nowadays, we have the double-decker, elevatored closets housing enough shoes to shoe a small country. Mantles and wimples and crisping pins--oh my! And what is the fashionable length of jeans--with or without holes, bleach, fringe, embroidery, belts.... "A chasing after the wind," as Ecclesiastes might have captured.

The biggest problem of all goes beyond what the women thought of themselves, or what they wanted others to think about them. My study Bible sums it up: "When women cultivate beauty for beauty's sake, they thereby reflect the moral decay of the nations and detract from the glory of God." When the storehouse is full, do we thank God or do we build another storehouse for the extra we accumulate? If we're beautiful, do we thank God for who He created us to be ("...the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God," I Peter 3:4), or do we head back to the mall to make sure our beauty stays intact.

"'And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry." But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.' And He said to His disciples, 'For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.'"

--Luke 12: 19-22

Verse 18 says, "In that day the Lord will take away the beauty of.... Again, back to the King James', we read, "...the Lord will take away the bravery of.... (italics mine). That word in the Hebrew also means glory, honor or majesty. [Strong's] "All glory, laud and honor to Thee, Redeemer King...." "To Thee all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all...." When we take away or cheapen that which belongs solely to God--that which tries to be captured in an ornament, bauble, fabric, style, attitude, etc.--He will respond. 

"Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness."

--Psalm 29: 1 and 2 (italics mine)

The chapter concludes with the effect that the choices of the daughters of Zion will have in joining the sinful nation of Judah as a whole. Not only will they trade their beautiful garments for sackcloth, but their men will be destroyed and their city left fallen.

"The roads of Zion are in mourning
Because no one comes to the appointed feasts.
All her gates are desolate;
Her priests are groaning,
Her virgins are afflicted,
And she herself is bitter."

--Lamentations 1:4

"If sin be harboured with in the walls, lamentation and mourning are near the gates."

--Matthew Henry

There is hope in this word. "A Remnant Prepared." ....'Til next Wednesday!

Photo: tyid.tv

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Next week: Isaiah 4:1-3

Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation,
specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB).
I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
(with notes from the King James Version).